distance does not equal a genuine learning experience unless it's married to a mindset which is truly open; and not one which simply ticks off the various places and countries visited like so many items on a shopping list. Such open-mindedness is a rare quality indeed, especially so in a world in which long-distance travel is taken for granted, and foreign excursions are ten-a-penny - quite literally given the current cost of some airfares.

Which takes me to my point. If you're prepared to be even a touch open-minded, it's not always necessary to to reach out to the distant and the remote to find what you're seeking. Nowadays moving from A to B is the increasingly easy part; travelling in the sense of actually experiencing a different locale is the hard part. Still further, making that mental leap doesn't happen overnight. At least that's what I've steadily learnt after leaving my island birthplace behind and gradually coming to realise that where you start can have just as much to offer as that far-off and unreachable horizon.

I left the Isle of Wight - a small island of one hundred and forty-seven